Survivors of the Nazi's notorious Auschwitz death camp are taking center stage at the memorial service to mark 80 years since its liberation by Soviet troops.

It doesn’t do any good for your heart, for your mind, for anything,” said Holocaust survivor Jona Laks, 94, about her return to Nazi Germany’s Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

In all, 56 survivors gathered under a huge tent on Monday set up over a gate and railway tracks at the site of the former camp.

Over 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including nearly a million Jews. On the day of liberation 80 years ago, only 7,000 were saved.

Around 50 survivors of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz gathered together for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp.

Silence pervades the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau today. Sometimes the only sounds are the soft footsteps of visitors, people who come from all over the world to mourn and to learn, and the voices of their guides speaking in hushed tones into microphones trying to explain the ungraspable.

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.